


King’s Gambit

by rhysands_highlady



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Canon Era, During Canon, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:13:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24886642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhysands_highlady/pseuds/rhysands_highlady
Summary: At the end of the Queen’s Gambit quest, Aloy returns to Meridian with the Sun-King and his family.
Relationships: Aloy/Avad (Horizon: Zero Dawn)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 45





	King’s Gambit

**Author's Note:**

> only angst in this house... i promise the next one is not angst... also this is in the same lil divergence as “I’ve missed you, too”

Aloy tried not to fidget as they neared the Brightmarket docks, where she could see the Sun-King and his guards gathered to greet Itamen and Nasadi. Vanasha stood next to her. She hoped to see her again after this was all said and done. 

When they docked the boat, Itamen and Nasadi got out first. Aloy tried to hang back, but Vanasha and the others pushed her forward. She ended up standing off to the right, only a step behind the king’s half-brother and his mother. 

Aloy watched Avad as he knelt down in front of his brother. He was wearing casual attire, not that it made him look any less kingly. The last time she’d seen him had been when she snuck into his palace in Meridian. It hadn’t gone poorly, but it went just about as well as it could for being the first time she’d seen him after rejecting him.

He noticed her then, when he stood from speaking to his brother. “Aloy…” He sounded… honestly, there was too much in his voice to decipher all the meanings he put into her name. His eyes were as kind when he looked upon her as they had been when looking at his young brother. He was a very good man, and she was… herself. 

Avad bowed his head to her, looking her over as he always did. She couldn’t use the excuse that the outfit was new, which meant… a lot of things that Aloy didn’t particularly want to address. 

“It seems I see your influence everywhere,” Avad continued, toying with one of his bracelets. He looked behind her as if at the far shore they had just left. “You have done so much for the Sundom, and it will always be appreciated.” The words were formal, practised. She hated them. Despite this, she bowed her head to him. 

“You have my thanks. May you walk in the light,” he said when Aloy met his gaze again. Something in his eyes was pleading with her to come back to Meridian with him, if only so they could speak freely. 

Aloy dipped her chin slightly, and Avad smiled softly before turning away to leave. As he and his entourage walked away, Vanasha scoffed. 

“Appalling, I spend two years in the forbidden west setting this up, and the redhead gets all the credit?” she said. Aloy kept her mouth shut, even though she knew exactly why Avad had given her the attention and credit.

Huadiv asked about payment, and Vanasha brushed him off with something that sounded like a threat before turning to Aloy. “I couldn’t have done this without you,” she admitted. “When we meet again, I’ll give you a proper thanks, I promise.”

“Well, that time might not be too far away, I’m actually heading back to Meridian myself,” Aloy explained, forcing herself not to look at the departing king. Vanasha grinned, and they followed after the Sun-King.

When they arrived back in Meridian, Aloy waited in the little gazebo in the Solarium while Avad helped get his family settled into the palace. Her arms rested on the stone railing as she looked out at the world beyond. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Avad said, startling her out of her observation. 

He’d once told her he didn’t like this palace any more than she did, but, she thought, it had grown on them both though not for the reasons one might assume. It had nothing to do with the wealth and power it embodied, if anything it was the downside. No, it was for emotional reasons. 

“Yes,” Aloy said simply as he came to lean against the railing beside her. She glanced over at him but he was staring at the horizon.

“I’m surprised you’re here,” Avad said quietly. “I didn’t think you would come.”

“I have business in the city,” she lied. Really, she needed to be heading back to Sunfall to explore the Zero Dawn facility, but instead she was here. Avad didn’t reply and she sighed. 

“Neither did I,” Aloy admitted, causing him to look over at her.

“What made you decide to?” he asked. She didn’t know how to explain to him that she just… wanted to, she wanted to talk to him. It was a selfish reason. 

She shrugged. “You seemed pretty desperate to talk to me.” 

Avad chuckled warmly, but his voice was genuine when he spoke. “Well, I was.”

Aloy sucked in a breath and looked up. Their eyes met. She studied his knowing gaze and handsome face. Her eyes fell to the curve of his cupid’s bow and paused. She wanted to kiss him. 

At the realisation, she blinked and pushed away from the railing abruptly. She clutched her scarf in her hand as she swallowed. Avad just stared at her with wide eyes, confusion plain on his face. 

“Sorry, I just remembered I have to meet Vanasha very soon for dinner.” She glanced at the setting sun for good measure, but Avad’s eyes narrowed. He knew she was lying. However, he didn’t stop her as she turned and left the Solarium, running as soon as she was out of his sight. 

Aloy ran and ran until she was out of the city and she collapsed in the bushes just as she reached the incline. She hugged her knees to her chest and stared at the Meridian gate, the people milling about and selling their wares. 

For some reason, she expected Avad to come after her. He didn’t. She knew he wouldn’t, he respected her decision to leave too much. Aloy huffed, which nearly turned into a noiseless sob as she remembered just how alone she was in this world. 


End file.
